﻿{"id":278791,"date":"2017-10-01T07:00:58","date_gmt":"2017-10-01T14:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=278791"},"modified":"2017-09-30T19:04:42","modified_gmt":"2017-10-01T02:04:42","slug":"braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/","title":{"rendered":"Braden Holloway and the Rise of NC State Swimming"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/category\/commentary\/morning-splash\/\" target=\"_blank\">Morning Splash<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0by David Rieder.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>There was a time not too long ago when any mention of the North Carolina State swimming program reminded fans of disqualified relays.<\/p>\n<p>In 2014, the upstart Wolfpack men began their NCAA championships with a false start DQ in the 200 free relay. One year later in the very same relay, the team was DQed in prelims, then reinstated and then, after apparently winning the national championship in the evening, DQed again.<\/p>\n<p>But even then, the program had major potential, and head coach\u00a0<strong>Braden Holloway<\/strong>\u00a0clearly had his team moving in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p>At the men\u2019s ACC championships in 2014, Holloway\u2019s Wolfpack team had all the momentum, ripping through the sprint events and relays. That weekend in Greensboro, N.C., NC State was undoubtedly the loudest and most energetic team on deck.<\/p>\n<p>But the team\u2019s conference title chase fell short that year. Virginia Tech\u2014a team coached by Holloway\u2019s former boss, <strong>Ned<\/strong> <strong>Skinner<\/strong>\u2014had loaded up on diving points one week earlier (those events were contested during the women\u2019s meet) and that decided the team title.<\/p>\n<p>For the Wolfpack, that was only the beginning. One year later, NC State\u2019s men won their first of three straight ACC titles and then broke into the top ten at the NCAA championships. In 2016, the team finished top five at NCAAs and also won its first relay national title under Holloway, edging out Texas to win the 400 free relay at the men\u2019s NCAA championships.<\/p>\n<p>And then, three months later,\u00a0<strong>Ryan Held<\/strong> made the Olympic team.<\/p>\n<div class=\"oembed-wrap\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"THE PACK IS BACK ON THE USA OLYMPIC TEAM!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/szTff5TtMyY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>But for all the success his men have accumulated over the past several years, it\u2019s what the women\u2019s team has pulled off that has been most fulfilling for the head coach.<\/p>\n<p>Before Holloway arrived in 2011, NC State had not finished higher than seventh in the ACC in 10 seasons. The team had scored at the NCAA championships in exactly one of the previous 19 seasons.<\/p>\n<p>In 2017, Holloway\u2019s sixth year with the program, the Wolfpack women out-swam nine-time defending conference champion Virginia to win their first ACC title since 1980. One month later, the team finished a program-best seventh place at the NCAA championships.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">\u201cHaving the women win (the ACC championship) this year when people told me the women would never win I think has probably been the most gratifying thing,\u201d Holloway said. \u201cJust to do something when the women were so down, I think that\u2019s something that we were really proud of.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><strong>International Pack<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This summer, more Wolfpack swimmers dotted American international teams as <strong>Justin Ress<\/strong> took down two Olympic gold medalists to win the 50 back at U.S. Nationals and book a spot on the World Championships team, and Ress was joined by Held, distance swimmer <strong>Hannah Moore<\/strong> and breaststroker <strong>Kayla Brumbaum<\/strong> on the World University Games team.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_269753\" style=\"width: 385px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-269753\" data-attachment-id=\"269753\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/justin-ress-usa-2017-world-champs\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/justin-ress-usa-2017-world-champs.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2614,1760\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"justin-ress-usa-2017-world-champs\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;10\/3\/17&lt;br \/&gt;\njustin-ress-usa-2017-world-champs&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/justin-ress-usa-2017-world-champs-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/justin-ress-usa-2017-world-champs-1024x689.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-269753\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/justin-ress-usa-2017-world-champs.jpg\" alt=\"justin-ress-usa-2017-world-champs\" width=\"375\" height=\"252\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/justin-ress-usa-2017-world-champs.jpg 2614w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/justin-ress-usa-2017-world-champs-533x359.jpg 533w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/justin-ress-usa-2017-world-champs-280x189.jpg 280w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/justin-ress-usa-2017-world-champs-1024x689.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 375px) 100vw, 375px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-269753\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Justin Ress &#8212; Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Ress had barely gotten any national attention prior to the summer, but he ended up making the final at Worlds in the 50 back before going to WUGs and winning gold in the 100 back and throwing down a 48-low split on the 400 free relay.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe came into our program probably the most versatile swimmer we\u2019ve signed since I\u2019d been there,\u201d Holloway said. \u201cHe could do whatever he wanted. You can tell, he likes to sprint. He was exposed to so many things in club that, with strength gains, it was only a matter of time before he was going to be shot out of a cannon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for the Wolfpack\u2019s star of 2016, Held got a bit of a wake-up call at this year\u2019s Nationals. He finished seventh in his signature event, the 100 free, leaving him one spot away from the Worlds team. But he did manage to put the unexpected setback aside in time to win gold in the 100 free at WUGs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s had the highest of highs at the Olympics, and now he\u2019s tasted some defeat at World Champ Trials. I think it puts many things into perspective for him,\u201d Holloway said. \u201cI think he\u2019ll be able to learn from that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With four of his swimmers on the team at WUGs, Holloway was tapped to serve as an assistant coach on the American staff in Taipei. That marked his first time ever representing the United States internationally as a coach.<\/p>\n<p>Having never before been on an international staff\u00a0for the U.S., Holloway explained that it felt somewhat weird at first \u201cworking with coaches you normally compete against,\u201d but that he enjoyed getting to know the other coaches as human beings.<\/p>\n<p>And while putting on a USA shirt for the first time was personally satisfying, the most special part for Holloway was watching his swimmers receive and put on American flag caps with their names printed on the side for the first time.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>\u201cTo see Hannah Moore and Kayla Brumbaum put it on for the first time and feel such pride and see their smile, I think that\u2019s probably the most enjoyment for a coach to see that,\u201d Holloway said.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><strong>Filling a Void<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If Holloway has been the architect of the NC State program for the past six years, <strong>Todd DeSorbo<\/strong> was one of the key builders. DeSorbo came in with Holloway as associate head coach and was the primary coach running the esteemed Wolfpack sprint group.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_271289\" style=\"width: 385px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-271289\" data-attachment-id=\"271289\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/todd-desorbo-named-head-coach-of-university-of-virginia-swimming\/todd-desorbo-nc-state\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/todd-desorbo-nc-state.jpeg\" data-orig-size=\"900,530\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1490283857&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"todd-desorbo-nc-state\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;8\/7\/17 &#038; 10\/12\/17&lt;br \/&gt;\ntodd-desorbo-nc-state&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: University of Virginia Athletics&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/todd-desorbo-nc-state-700x500.jpeg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/todd-desorbo-nc-state.jpeg\" class=\"wp-image-271289\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/todd-desorbo-nc-state.jpeg\" alt=\"todd-desorbo-nc-state\" width=\"375\" height=\"221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/todd-desorbo-nc-state.jpeg 900w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/todd-desorbo-nc-state-533x314.jpeg 533w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/todd-desorbo-nc-state-280x165.jpeg 280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 375px) 100vw, 375px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-271289\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Todd DeSorbo &#8212; Photo Courtesy: University of Virginia Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n<p>When the NC State men won the 800 free relay at the NCAA championships in 2017 in NCAA record-time, Holloway insisted that DeSorbo accompany him for the post-race interview. In six years working together, the two became not just colleagues but good friends. Their children often spent the night at each other\u2019s houses.<\/p>\n<p>But all the sudden, DeSorbo has become a rival. He was hired in early August to replace <strong>Augie Busch<\/strong> at the University of Virginia, an ACC rival of NC State located only a few hours north of Raleigh.<\/p>\n<p>Holloway had known that DeSorbo\u2019s departure was inevitable: as people around the country took note of NC State\u2019s success, he had been getting calls for head coaching opportunities and had already turned some down. But to Virginia, he couldn\u2019t say no.<\/p>\n<p>How do you replace someone like that?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>\u201cI told the team, \u2018We\u2019re not going to replace him.\u2019 You can\u2019t,\u201d Holloway said. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be the same\u2014whenever you lose someone like that that has such a big role, it\u2019s just not going to be the same, and it doesn\u2019t have to be the same. We can still be successful and it be different.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Bobby<\/strong> <strong>Guntoro<\/strong>, who actually swam for DeSorbo at UNC-Wilmington before the two came to NC State, has taken over many of DeSorbo\u2019s coaching responsibilities with the sprint group. Holloway called Guntoro \u201cprobably the most crazy, intense person on our staff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe structure of our program is going to stay the same,\u201d Holloway said. \u201cIt\u2019ll just have a couple of spices mixed in and some spices removed. We just want to continue to have a good recipe.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Looking Forward and Looking Back<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Heading into year seven of Holloway\u2019s tenure in Raleigh, no swimming and diving program in the country has elevated further during that time span. And yet, Holloway insists that not all that much has changed: team chemistry has stayed more or less the same, and those on the inside of the program still feel like they are building momentum.<\/p>\n<p>But if your men\u2019s team finishes top-five at NCAAs two years in a row and your women\u2019s team top-ten, shouldn\u2019t recruiting get easier? Not really, Holloway insisted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople are still trying to figure us out,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople think that their kids could go to school at NC State and improve and enjoy the experience, but I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s easier because we\u2019re trying to recruit the next level up, and when you recruit the next level up, you\u2019re going against the big dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Immediately, Holloway caught himself: \u201cPeople think we\u2019re big dogs now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well, yeah. NC State has put swimmers on every U.S. international team for the past two years and become a force across the board at NCAAs.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_247309\" style=\"width: 385px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-247309\" data-attachment-id=\"247309\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/kayla-brumbaum-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/kayla-brumbaum-2017-wncaa-3833.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1067\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Peter H. Bick&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D5&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;kayla-brumbaum-&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1489834708&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Peter H. Bick&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;2000&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;kayla-brumbaum-&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"kayla-brumbaum-2017 wncaa 3833\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;kayla-brumbaum- 200 Breaststroke Breaststroke, 2017, Brumbaum Kayla, NC State, NCAA DI Women&#8217;s S&amp;amp;D Championships&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/kayla-brumbaum-2017-wncaa-3833-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/kayla-brumbaum-2017-wncaa-3833-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-247309\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/kayla-brumbaum-2017-wncaa-3833.jpg\" alt=\"kayla-brumbaum-\" width=\"375\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/kayla-brumbaum-2017-wncaa-3833.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/kayla-brumbaum-2017-wncaa-3833-533x355.jpg 533w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/kayla-brumbaum-2017-wncaa-3833-280x187.jpg 280w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/kayla-brumbaum-2017-wncaa-3833-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 375px) 100vw, 375px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-247309\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kayla Brumbaum &#8212; Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The program is producing swimmers like Brumbaum, who went from not even being invited to the NCAA championships as a sophomore to finishing fifth in the event at the national level as a senior. Unsure if she would even keep swimming past college, Brumbaum ended up making the WUGs team in the 200 breast and finishing fourth in Taipei.<\/p>\n<p>The name Braden Holloway means something much different in swimming than it did when he was hired off Virginia Tech\u2019s staff six years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople ask me, \u2018What\u2019s the best thing that you\u2019ve done in coaching?\u2019\u201d Holloway said. \u201c\u2018Which kid\u2014Ryan or <strong>Alexia<\/strong> (<strong>Zevnik<\/strong>) or\u2026?\u201d I was like, \u2018No, it was picking the right staff to do what we did, and we did it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s clear how much pride Holloway takes in all his team managed to accomplish over the past six years, but he can\u2019t fully process it all\u2014not yet, anyway.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">\u201cSometimes I sit back and think about what we\u2019ve been able to do, and I don\u2019t really think I\u2019ll value it as much until I\u2019m done doing what I\u2019m doing, to be honest,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>As for Holloway&#8217;s\u00a0most treasured moments of his time at NC State, two came to mind: the 800 free relay win at the NCAA championships\u2014\u201cprobably the most exciting race I\u2019ve ever seen where we had kids involved\u201d\u2014and then one other that few swimming fans noticed.<\/p>\n<p>NC State had a senior this past season who was not on the conference championship team, but she had one simple goal she wanted to accomplish by the end of her career: break 2:00 in the 200 fly. In the final race of her career, she did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo see her reaction after she broke 2:00 just reminds you of why you do what you do,\u201d Holloway said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Morning Splash\u00a0by David Rieder. There was a time not too long ago when any mention of the North Carolina State swimming program reminded fans of disqualified relays. In 2014, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":278823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,6,17,61052],"tags":[29818,5576,25272,28598,28605,27968,60127,32355,60126],"class_list":["post-278791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-college","category-commentary","category-morning-splash","tag-alexia-zevnik","tag-braden-holloway","tag-david-rieder","tag-hannah-moore","tag-justin-ress","tag-kayla-brumbaum","tag-morning-splash","tag-ryan-held","tag-todd-desorbo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Braden Holloway and the Rise of NC State Swimming<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Entering his seventh year as head coach of NC State swimming, Braden Holloway has transformed the program into one of the best in the country.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Braden Holloway and the Rise of NC State Swimming\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Entering his seventh year as head coach of NC State swimming, Braden Holloway has transformed the program into one of the best in the country.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-01T14:00:58+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-01T02:04:42+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/braden-holloway-nc-state-morning-splash.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@David_Rieder\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af\"},\"headline\":\"Braden Holloway and the Rise of NC State Swimming\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-01T14:00:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-01T02:04:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/\"},\"wordCount\":1732,\"commentCount\":7,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/braden-holloway-nc-state-morning-splash.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alexia Zevnik\",\"Braden Holloway\",\"David Rieder\",\"Hannah Moore\",\"Justin Ress\",\"Kayla Brumbaum\",\"Morning Splash\",\"Ryan Held\",\"Todd DeSorbo\"],\"articleSection\":[\"-Home Slider\",\"College\",\"Commentary\",\"Morning Splash By David Rieder\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/\",\"name\":\"Braden Holloway and the Rise of NC State Swimming\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/braden-holloway-nc-state-morning-splash.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-01T14:00:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-01T02:04:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Entering his seventh year as head coach of NC State swimming, Braden Holloway has transformed the program into one of the best in the country.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/braden-holloway-nc-state-morning-splash.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/braden-holloway-nc-state-morning-splash.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Photo Courtesy: Todd Kirkland\/theACC.com\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Braden Holloway and the Rise of NC State Swimming\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af\",\"name\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\"},\"description\":\"David Rieder is a staff writer for Swimming World. He has contributed to the magazine and website since 2009, and he has covered the NCAA Championships, U.S. Nationals, Olympic Trials as well as the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. He is a native of Charleston, S.C., and a 2016 graduate of Duke University.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/David_Rieder\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/davidr\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Braden Holloway and the Rise of NC State Swimming","description":"Entering his seventh year as head coach of NC State swimming, Braden Holloway has transformed the program into one of the best in the country.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Braden Holloway and the Rise of NC State Swimming","og_description":"Entering his seventh year as head coach of NC State swimming, Braden Holloway has transformed the program into one of the best in the country.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2017-10-01T14:00:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-10-01T02:04:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/braden-holloway-nc-state-morning-splash.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@David_Rieder","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/"},"author":{"name":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af"},"headline":"Braden Holloway and the Rise of NC State Swimming","datePublished":"2017-10-01T14:00:58+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-01T02:04:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/"},"wordCount":1732,"commentCount":7,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/braden-holloway-nc-state-morning-splash.jpg","keywords":["Alexia Zevnik","Braden Holloway","David Rieder","Hannah Moore","Justin Ress","Kayla Brumbaum","Morning Splash","Ryan Held","Todd DeSorbo"],"articleSection":["-Home Slider","College","Commentary","Morning Splash By David Rieder"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/","name":"Braden Holloway and the Rise of NC State Swimming","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/braden-holloway-nc-state-morning-splash.jpg","datePublished":"2017-10-01T14:00:58+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-01T02:04:42+00:00","description":"Entering his seventh year as head coach of NC State swimming, Braden Holloway has transformed the program into one of the best in the country.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/braden-holloway-nc-state-morning-splash.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/braden-holloway-nc-state-morning-splash.jpg","width":720,"height":500,"caption":"Photo Courtesy: Todd Kirkland\/theACC.com"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/braden-holloway-and-the-rise-of-nc-state-swimming\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Braden Holloway and the Rise of NC State Swimming"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af","name":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"David Rieder - Senior Writer"},"description":"David Rieder is a staff writer for Swimming World. He has contributed to the magazine and website since 2009, and he has covered the NCAA Championships, U.S. Nationals, Olympic Trials as well as the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. He is a native of Charleston, S.C., and a 2016 graduate of Duke University.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/David_Rieder"],"url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Photo Courtesy: Todd Kirkland\/theACC.com","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/braden-holloway-nc-state-morning-splash.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-1awD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}